Originally posted by dedalos
Hehe, I like hunting too. No bows though. No reason to make an animal suffer for days because I am a bad shot.
An interesting point. Studies have shown that animals shot with bows experience less pain and emotional trauma than those shot with guns. The arrow passes through the hole made by a razor sharp broadhead. Ever cut yourself shaving? Excruciating pain? Or do you notice the blood before you even realize you're cut? The noise of the bow, and of the arrow hitting the ground after it passes through cause more menatl trauma than actually being hit.
A doctor will tell you that cuts made with sharp blades heal faster than those made with dull blades. Animals that don't immediately succumb to the shot are more likely to heal (due to misplaced hits).
On the other hand, the sound of a firearm discharging is more traumatic to the animal than the sound of the bow. Animals that don't immediately succumb are destined to die later, due to infection from the bullet wound. A few days or weeks of suffering, compared to a few days or weeks of healing.
It should be noted that bowhunting has not been shown to result in a drastically higher rate of wounding loss than firearms. It may appear that that's the case though as firearm seasons generally follow bow seasons, allowing some of those animals wounded from bowhunting to be found.
Still, both are probably less traumatic than being pursued and ripped apart by wolves, or dying a lingering death due to malnourishment, or having your habitat destroyed so a housing development or a shopping mall can be built.
On a seperate note-
Any idea how many animals die, or are wounded and left to die a slow death due to automobile hits?
Or the death toll caused by stray housecats?
If your goal is to save animals, it would be better to get people to stop running them over, or stop killing them by destroying their habitat. More animals are affected by that than by hunting. At least hunters utilize the animal after they kill it.
MtnMan
